Essay/Term paper: Psychology - anxiety disorders

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Psychology

Anxiety Disorders


Anxiety is a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not known. In comparison, fear is a feeling of tension that is associated with a known source of danger. I believe it is normal for us to have some mild anxiety present in our daily lives. Everyday that I can think of I have some kind of anxiety though out that day. Anxiety warns us and enables us to get ready for the "fight or flight" response. However, heightened anxiety is emotionally painful. It disrupts a person's daily functioning.
Anxiety can be seen with several other emotional disorders including the following:
Acute Stress Disorder
Panic Attack
Agoraphobia
Phobia
Anxiety Disorder Due to Medical Condition
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

There are many characteristics associated with anxiety. Frequently, people with anxiety experience tightness in their chest, a racing or pounding heart, and a pit in their stomach. Anxiety causes some people to get a headache, to sweat, and even make them have the urge to urinate.
Severe anxiety, which can be described as an episode of terror, is referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks can be extremely frightening. People who experience panic attacks over a prolonged time period may become victims of agoraphobia, which is a psychiatric disorder that is closely associated with the panic disorder. Patients with Agoraphobia avoid certain places or situations such as airplanes, crowded theaters, a grocery store or anyplace from which escape might be difficult. It is said that Agoraphobia can be so severe that it has made certain individuals housebound.
Some people argue that there is a genetic basis for these anxiety disorders. Research shows that there is strong evidence for a genetic basis for anxiety. If a person has anxiety, more than ten percent of his or her relatives will also suffer form some form of anxiety if not the same form that they have.
It has been found that anxiety disorder affect males and females differently. Females are

known to be twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than males. On the other hand, an equal

number of males and females are both seen for the treatment of their anxiety.

The ages that the people have anxiety attacks vary but, anxiety problems commonly begin when people are in their twenty"s. This is something really great to know when you are only a year a way from being twenty. When will my anxiety start? Or has it already? There some known cases of anxiety at early ages but these are rare. Still again people of any age can suffer from anxiety and require the treatment for it.
I wondered to myself how common are anxiety disorders in our society today. Then I found out how common they really are. They end up being very common. At least three percent of the population in the untied states has had or will eventually be diagnose with some form of abnormal anxiety. Being a college student I am almost positive that I am in that three percent. How lucky am I?
Knowing now that I am almost at the right age to have anxiety who would diagnose a type of disorder like these? I found out that a mental health professional may diagnoses the anxiety disorder after taking a careful look at my personal history. It will be important to the therapist to learn the details of my life. It is also very important not to overlook a physical illness that might mimic or contribute to this psychological disorder since some medical illnesses can cause anxiety like symptoms. Take for instance, a person with an overactive thyroid, known as hyperthyroidism, may have symptoms similar to anxiety. This is something that the professional would pick up and diagnose you accordingly. If there would be a question whether the individual might have a physical problem, the mental health professional would recommend a complete physical examinati